10 man Longlevens make it five home wins in a row with victory over Slimbridge
Longlevens made it five home wins in a row in the Hellenic Premier on Saturday, with a battling 1-0 win against Slimbridge – having played the last half an hour with 10 men.
After Jack Beardsell was shown a second yellow card just before the hour mark, the home side actually seized control of the match and Fin Gwillim fired home the winner with just over twenty minutes remaining.
The hosts deserved the win on the day, with Slimbridge lacklustre for the most part and in particular after the sending off of Beardsell.
Levens have now won their last five league matches at home, a run stretching all the way back to their Bank Holiday Monday defeat against Tuffley Rovers.
Slimbridge are ironically the only side to avoid defeat at Saw Mills since then, in that thrilling 4-4 draw in the FA Vase in September.
For the Swans, it is their second league defeat in the last three fixtures as they slipped to third following Droitwich Spa’s 3-0 win over Thornbury Town.
Both sides are in Floodlit Cup action in midweek, with Slimbridge heading to Westfields on Tuesday night and Longlevens heading FC Stratford on Wednesday.
Lewis Driscoll had the first chance of the game as he curled a free kick into the side netting on 6 minutes.
Aaron Evans-Harriot had Slimbridge’s first effort of the contest moments later, but he sliced wide from the edge of the box.
On 12 minutes, Jack Smith closed down Levens keeper Drew Brei’s clearance but was deemed to have handled the ball – meaning the game was stopped before the rebound flew in.
Smith went close on 25 minutes as he slid in to meet a cross, but his effort deflected over off a recovering defender.
Fin Gwilliam had a chance just after the half hour mark, but he dragged wide from 20 yards – before Ollie Long hooked over from close range in injury time.
Long had to produce a great goal saving block to repel a Jack Smith effort just after half time, after the former Brimscombe man took the ball into his stride superbly well.
Levens right back, Dan Roddis, put in a Man of the Match display and after nipping in on the half way line, combined with Driscoll before Gwillim’s effort on goal was deflected out for a corner.
And moments later the potential turning point came as Jack Beardsell, who was already on a booking, was given a second yellow card for delaying the restart and the hosts were reduced to 10.
It was a harsh second yellow, with Beardsell blindly throwing the ball back for a throw in to be taken, however the ball went over the rails and he was dismissed.
But from there, Longlevens took control and Slimbridge really disappointed.
Driscoll sent in an in-swinging cross that Alex Kovacevic did well to beat away at the far post, with Shiyak Sutherland then firing over.
Kovacevic then saved well from a Cam Williams free kick, before producing a superb stop to keep out Gwillim after he showed great pace to get through on goal.
But Kovacevic couldn’t do much moments later as Gwillim got onto a through ball and fired into the roof of the net to break the deadlock.
Slimbridge were gifted a huge chance to level with just over 10 minutes left, when Raiyan Ahmed took advantage of Jay Wells’ missed clearance, but chipped into Brei’s face as the keeper came out to meet him.
And in reality, that was as good as it got for the Swans, who really failed to make their number advantage count at all and found the Longlevens back line too solid to get through.
In fact, Levens had the best chances of the final 10 minutes as a clearance was flicked on by substitute Ben Lodge, with Gwillim going through on goal, but wasting the chance after going too wide to the left.
Then in injury time, Roddis got forward with a smart one two into the box, but Kovacevic made another great stop to keep the deficit to one.
Longlevens move up to 9th in the table with the victory and now have seven league wins this season – just two short of their total wins for the whole of last season.
After their midweek cup exploits, both sides face tough league fixtures next weekend – with Longlevens on the road to Mangotsfield United and Slimbridge hosting play-off chasing Hereford Pegasus.
Longlevens: Brei, Roddis, Byard, Long, Wells, Holmes, Beardsell, Williams, Gwillim, Driscoll, Sutherland
Subs: Sherchan, Knight, Myatt, Lodge, Martin
Slimbridge: Kovacevic, Mara, Haswell, Kang, Hitchings, Ponting, Shutt, Soule, Smith, W Smith, Evans-Harriot
Subs: Evans, Hanson, Rodgers, Ahmed, Olateju
C Martin Roofing Man of the Match – Dan Roddis (Longlevens)
READ MORE: Check out the list of Saturday’s results in and around Gloucestershire right here
